As I Type This, I Cannot Feel My Fingers
I’m not going to talk about the movie The Da Vinci Code because we have all seen it and have all read it and I am absolutely, 100% sick to death of it. Also, if you’re that jackass in the movie theater who announces major plot points or quotes lines approximately 45 seconds before it happens; I can guarantee there are at least 7 people in the movie theater with you who are imagining punching you in the back of the head.
I finally finished Sue Monk Kidd’s The Mermaid Chair and was thoroughly disappointed with a storyline that went nowhere. Kidd had the ability to inject a level of emotion and description in The Secret Life of Bees that had me convinced I was a part of the secret bond between August, June and May. Kidd tries to recreate that sense of sisterhood but it remains flatline throughout the The Mermaid Chair. Jessie, a middle-aged struggling artist, attempts to break free from the monotony of her marriage but only comes across as being selfish and bratty when she indulges in what is ultimately a meaningless affair. When the secret of the mysterious Mermaid Chair was finally revealed it provided no revelation or sincere expression of truth. Instead, I felt as thought I wasted $14.99 on a book that remained monotonous even throughout what was meant to be its most dynamic chapters.
I’ve started Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and am completely engrossed in the life of Lily, a Chinese woman who tells her story of a lifelong friendship through the secret language of nu shu. It is, like Memoirs of a Geisha and Joy Luck Club, frank but sincere in its storytelling. I find myself filled with a deep well of sympathy for Lily when her feet are bound at the feeble age of 7 while she in turn feels a great sense of obligation and duty.
I have only one more week left off from classes before I begin my summer semester. I’m taking two courses in the hopes of graduating in the spring of 2007. Shakespeare in Film and Text sounds relatively easy but my first impressions are usually horribly wrong. Latin American Studies is a general ed course that wasn’t offered in previous semesters so I decided to take the course before the powers that be decide to eliminate the class next semester. I’m still debating whether a minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies is worth all the trouble when I ought to focus on my English major. Probably being Puerto Rican should be enough of an education but I should point out that my proficiency in Spanish is awful, to the point of near embarrassment but I’ll save that story for another entry. You know, when you and I get to know each other better.
I’m still working on this coarse “baby” blanket for a pen pal but am growing bored/frustrated with the project. It’s not turning out the way I was expecting it. I have a pile of new and unused yarn and zero ideas of what to do with them. There is also a Stich n’ Bitch meet at a nearby Barnes and Noble on Tuesday. I feel compelled to go but am mildly embarrassed by my novice projects.
By the way, it’s 62 degrees Farenheit at my job. I cannot possibly concieve any reason for this crazy ridiculous indoor temperature unless of course my work uniform is a parka.
May 23rd, 2006 at 4:31 pm
Hey, I’m not sure if I told you this already or not in one of our letters, but I have already read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Very good book. I didn’t like it quite as much as Memoirs of a Geisha or Amy Tan’s work, but it definitely has that “real life” feeling to it. Also, you can tell that it’s been meticulously researched.